Toddler in foster care after testing positive for meth

FOLEY, Minn. - A mother and father who had one of their children die in their care last year have been charged in Benton County with allowing a different child to ingest methamphetamine.

Nicole Kathryn McKay, 26, and Matthew Mark Dennis, 34, have been charged with storing methamphetamine in the presence of a child and allowing a child to ingest meth.

McKay is scheduled to make her first court appearance Tuesday on the felony charges. Dennis is scheduled to make his first court appearance Feb. 25.

The two were charged after Sauk Rapids police investigated the death of one of the couple's children late last year. The death of that child was ruled an accident, and the cause was determined to be positional asphyxiation.

Police were involved in removing the surviving sibling from the parents' care when investigators learned that McKay and Dennis had admitted being addicted to prescription drugs and that they had used drugs prior to the death of the child.

Benton County Human Services became involved because of the living conditions in the home where their 21-month-old child was living. Investigators found methamphetamine paraphernalia in the couple's bedroom and found an orange-colored tube under a baby crib that had a white powder inside it.

The powder tested positive for meth, according to the criminal complaint.

McKay, Dennis and their 21-month-old child gave hair samples to investigators to show what substances were in their systems. Those tests showed that the child's hair tested positive for meth, heroin and oxycodone, according to the criminal complaint.

McKay and Dennis tested positive for amphetamines, methamphetamine and opiates.

The county filed a petition alleging that the 21-month-old child was in need of protection or services from the county. McKay and Dennis admitted the surviving child was in need of protection or services because of their abuse of prescription medication, according to Benton County Attorney Phillip Miller.

The child has been placed in a foster care home, and the parents have signed off on a plan that has the goal of reunifying the child with the parents.